My husband and I are in the process of designing a small addition to the back of our brick, 1930s Cape Cod. As much as we dislike the idea of altering the architecture of the original structure, it is becoming a necessity to fit the needs of our growing boys who are headed for adolescence (btw, this scares the crap
Read moreMy client needed to update her small bath in her condo in downtown Chicago. The bath was built in the late 70s with sterile, white tile and dated fixtures. She wanted to introduce a little color, but we still needed to make it light and bright – there is no natural light in the space. We also wanted to add some texture to
Read moreTerrazzo is a custom flooring that originated in Italy. Venetians developed terrazzo floors, because they wanted to reuse leftover or broken marble chips from large, marble slab and/or tile projects. These chips of marble are laid in a pattern, then a concrete or epoxy resin is poured on top of the marble pieces. After the resin dries, the floor is ground
Read moreAs a follow-up to my post last week, if tile is not your thing, I have solutions for you: For a kitchen backsplash, I prefer to specify a thinner version of the same material as your countertop. My favorite countertop materials are quartz (a man-made or engineered material), quartzite (a natural sandstone that is heated and hardened), and marble. Silestone
Read moreThis is a frequent question that I hear from my clients. My general rules are the following: For a white marble or ceramic mosaic (for example: hexagon, penny or basketweave) on a bathroom floor, I prefer a light to mid-gray grout, because you don’t want dirt to show immediately and it’s difficult to keep the white grout clean on floors … believe me.
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Rachael Franceschina 